Mice!! Help!

[dreamer60]

We keep our Classic in our driveway. We and our neighbors have heavily wooded lots and therefore mice, moles, salamanders etc. We have put many, many mouse traps in many, many interior locations of the Airstream and the critters still leave deposits and sometimes try to make nests. We check the traps daily but they are resourceful and often avoid the traps. ( We have tired the traditional wooden traps, glue traps and electronic traps. Does anyone know if there is a product we can put around the outside of the Airstream that will prevent the mice from entering? Thanks for taking the time to read this.

[richinny]

i don't know about entering but a hungry mouser cat will keep them from leaving!

[GStephens]

Buy some spray foam, fill the A-frame at the front of the trailer with foam and any other places that you find under the trailer big enough for a mouse to enter. The A-frame is where most enter. I had been told this and generally discounted it for years. Like you, I used traps to catch them never seemingly gaining any ground on the problem. Then, I used the foam in the A-frame and my mouse problem went away - completely.
GStephens

[62bam]

I stuffed a bunch of steal wool in the A-frame openings and NO more mice! Also, for outside, I mix D-con and applesauce together....critters seem to like the fruit smell!

[nick6930]

Went through this in the spring. Spray foam any openings on the inside floor. I had an opening in the lav and where the water heater gas line came up. I also plugged the holes on the bottom that did not have drain lines. Also is using sticky traps add a bunch of crackers near it this will intice them more.

Good luck. i took a lot of slack from the wife the first time camping and one ran out in front of her. Lucky for me my jack russel was faster than the mouse and took care of that one. GOOD DOG!!!!! Mice she deadly, people she is a chicken sh&^.

[AIR-Quarius]

We use Gorilla brand duct tape...and lay six inch pieces of it around corners and wall spaces...whatever touches it, sticks...one time we had a roach problem and they would get a few stuck to it and I guess they would yell for help or send out some sort of signal because the rest of them would come get stuck too. ha! make sure you lay the tape sticky side up of course.

[tphan]

As GStephens says, if you keep them from getting in, you don't have to bother with all the rest. Check your underside thoroughly for openings, along with aforementioned frame ends, around the bumper, etc. No easy holes to jump up into, no mice inside. Been there, done that!

[Wabbiteer]

Eliminate all sources of food for 100-foot plus in any direction - bird feeders are the largest source, grass gone to seed, places with more insects, etc. Doing insecticide treatments of the turf and building foundations can help too - Mice are opportunistic, they see a bug its eaten in an eyeblink. Think scorched mousey-earth for food-stuffs.

Get a small black-light unit, they sell little battery power units for pet urine detection or a $10 fluorescent tube from HD. etc. and go beam the trailer interior at night. Take along windex and towels. The incontenent little things will give away their secret passages, pun intended. Oh, and do not beam your kitchen or bathroom unless you want a new after-dark hobby.

On a small tangent: One thing you might do is make hidey holes on the property at large from paper towel tubes with a couple of shredded (scissor cut) cotton balls inside sprayed with en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrethrin insecticide; this kills larval stages of ticks, mites, fleas that require a soft-skinned mammal to feed on before they reach maturity. Luring them to the tubes with a little peanut butter etc. is okay, what this is INTENDED for is getting them to take the material back for bedding. NO, this isn't about making the mouses life better it is about stopping deer & wood ticks & mites before they get you. A couple of seasons of this can actually stop 95% or more of the ticks & other wee-beasties. Think wood piles, property corners, random places in fields.

For outbuildings the best mouse trap I've used was a 5-gallon bucket with a couple or four inches of cracked corn in the bottom and a bowl shaped lid with a quarter-sized hole at the bottom of the funnel. Place the bucket under a table or other cover and lean or stack something to the lid. Corn fumes seem to drive them bonkers, I got four the first day, they must peer down in the bucket and gamble they can leap out but the ground corn gives way under them and their fat little selves can't jump it...

[richinny]

a city boy wants to know.... what do you do with a bucket with corn and 4 mice in it? (serious question)

[Wabbiteer]

what do you do with a bucket with corn and 4 mice in it?

1) Ensure lid is affixed to bucket, if bowl shaped lid is used baffle lid access port.
2) Secure mouse bucket in vehicle and drive to remote location.
3) Remove mouse bucket from vehicle vicinity.
4) Loosen lid, tilt bucket on side, release mice.

NOTES: Avoid fraternizing with the captives. Do not feed captives to cats unless fasted for twelve hours as the corn sugars disagree with obligate carnivores. Distance yourself from transport vehicle so calls on 'shotgun' for ride home are minimized. Do not release captives near the KOA or State Campgrounds. Scattering a handful of corn at relocation site can and will be viewed as aide and comfort to the enemy. When reloading trap leave bucket in used condition so pheromones will attract more mice.

[Steve & Susan]

A variation of wabbiteer's method if you don't want to save the little beasties' lives:

5 gallon bucket
3/4 full of water
1 to 3 inches of black oil sunflower seeds floating on top of the water.
Pile of stones etc. to provide a ramp up the outside of the bucket.

They LOVE sunflower seeds but cannot swim. Dig a hole in the yard and bury the little critters.

This works for chipmunks too when they overrun your yard and eat all of your expensive tulip/daffodil bulbs. I got 23 in a week last year.

Happy hunting

[COArgosy78]

Ok, we had a real problem in our trailer last year after parking it in a storage area outside. They let the weeds/grass grow under the trailer (and surrounding area beside her). Also, we found a can of peanuts that we had overlooked in her - that was a BIG draw for them. We had to set numberous traps w/peanut butter to catch them - but finally got them all out. I hate to think about what is under our wood floor. Here is what we have done to try to keep it clean since. (so far, so good!)

We moved her to a storage facility where she is on asphalt - NO WEEDS or GRASS anywhere close). Very vigilant about the food, crumbs, dirty utensils/dishes, anything that might smell tempting. Finally, I bought a product created by a woman who lives on a farm and always had problems w/mice in their vehicles (cars, tractors, etc). It is a blend of corn cob that has been infused w/several essental oils. It smells wonderful! On her website she says it has been "tested and endorsed" by Good Sams Club. Recently they sent me an e-mail indicating it is now being sold at ACE hardware stores. The #800 number for her is 800 583-2921 and the product is called FreshCab. I really love to walk into the trailer w/the very nice smell, and I am hoping it is part of why those little critters are not around anymore. Check it out on her website at CraneCreekGardens.com

[Blu_Hwy_Lady]

Here's another method of drowning the little buggers that you can set up outside your trailer, maybe in several places. You'll need

a bucket (empty 5 gallon paint buckets are perfect)
string or fishing line
an empty aluminum beverage can with concave bottom
peanut butter

Poke 2 holes in the side of the can near the bottom
Thread string or fishing line thru the holes.
Tie the string to the bucket handles so the can is suspended in the middle.
Fill the bucket with water to 6 inches below the can.
Smear peanut butter in concave can bottom of the can.
Place a stick up against the side of the bucket as a "ladder".

The mice think they can jump to the can top but they either don't make it or if they do, the can flips and dumps them in the drink.

Yeah, I know, fiendish...awful. But only someone who HAS NOT had mice do serious damage to the Airstream or a vehicle would think that. I tried everything else first.

[Silverwanabe]

At Lowes,
I have seen plug in devices that send a signal out that "repels" the rodents.
Not sure if it actually works....

I have ants, just sprayed this morning around the service center and on the hose and cord. I left a glass in the sink last night that I drunk lemonade in. Ants all in the sink and on the counter, Gross-Gross.

No pests in the RV.

[richinny]

Originally Posted by Wabbiteer

1) Ensure lid is affixed to bucket, if bowl shaped lid is used baffle lid access port.
2) Secure mouse bucket in vehicle and drive to remote location.
3) Remove mouse bucket from vehicle vicinity.
4) Loosen lid, tilt bucket on side, release mice.

NOTES: Avoid fraternizing with the captives. Do not feed captives to cats unless fasted for twelve hours as the corn sugars disagree with obligate carnivores. Distance yourself from transport vehicle so calls on 'shotgun' for ride home are minimized. Do not release captives near the KOA or State Campgrounds. Scattering a handful of corn at relocation site can and will be viewed as aide and comfort to the enemy. When reloading trap leave bucket in used condition so pheromones will attract more mice.

how do i get the mice out of my truck?

just kidding! i'll test fit the lid for a good seal first.

[Blu_Hwy_Lady]

Don't waste your money on the electronic gadgets that are supposed to "repel" mice. After the glowing endorsement of an employee at Sharper IMage who stated her grandmother's house was now completely mouse-free I bought a number of their pricey "Mouse Movers". I put them in my garage, basement and the Airstream. They seemed to have an effect for maybe a month. Then, the mice actually chewed through the cord on one and ALL of them ended up with nasty little mouse pellets stuck to them.
Yeah...real effective.

[3 Dog Nite]

Here's a safe trap we found by accident. We had a wine bottle on it's side under the dinnette seat. It had less than a sip of wine in it. When I went to throw it out, there was a mouse passed out inside. He became awake but groggy after a few gentle shakes. Either he was too drunk or the slippery glass side kept him from escaping. As we were in a National Forest campground, I just left the bottle tipped at a slight angle with the bottle's neck on the ground so he could get out when the hangover subsided. He was gone 2 hours later.

Ricky

[dreamer60]

THANK YOU to all who have responded with great ideas. We will try almost all of them and are always open to new ones.

[COArgosy78]

Dreamer60 (and anyone else) Let me know if you go w/the FreshCab - like I said, we have had no problems since adding a couple bags to the inside of our trailer & it smells so nice! On her website, she has a guarantee. The other thing I forgot to mention was sealing as many holes as possible. We used a small grade wire across some and expanding foam on others. There seem to be many places they can squeeze into - hard to find them all! Good luck.

[Ken J]

I've found that I don't need to put any peanut butter or seeds in my bucket of water - they just run up and jump in - they are not real smart - have caught hundreds that way...

I have had good luck with the unltrasonic thingies.. They seem to either work or not -

As far as getting rid of them, I just dump them in the woods - I'd be digging holes everyday..... There is some animal/bird that eats them, as they are usually gone the next day.

I'm not at all for catching and releasing them - in my experience, if you let them live, they go tell all their friends and you get more mice...

Ken J.